HIV Weight Loss Singapore | Shim Clinic

Weight loss is celebrated when it occurs deliberately, but unexplained weight loss can be a sign of a serious disease. Acute HIV infection, cancer, hormone problems, and other diseases can cause you to lose weight unexpectedly. If you may have been exposed to HIV, you need an HIV test immediately.

Many people want to lose weight, and spend a great deal of time and effort attempting to do so. When weight loss is a result of clear effort, then it can be good for your health. However, if you’re not actively trying to lose weight but you find that weight is melting off anyway, then the loss of weight is no longer something to celebrate. It could be a sign of a serious illness.

There are many potential causes of unexplained weight loss. One of these is an infection. In the early phase of HIV infection, people may find themselves losing weight without trying. This can also happen later in the course of the infection. In some cases, it may be accompanied by a loss of appetite, and possibly by other gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and diarrhoea. However, loss of weight from acute HIV infection or another infection can also happen without accompanying gastrointestinal symptoms.

• When weight loss occurs as a result of deliberate effort, then it can be good for your health. However, if you lose weight without trying, this can be a sign of a serious disease.
• Infections, including acute HIV infection, can cause unexplained weight loss. Sometimes, other gastrointestinal symptoms (such as loss of appetite, nausea, and diarrhoea) are also present, but not always.
• Other diseases that can cause weight loss include cancer, hormonal problems, mood disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders.
• If you find yourself losing weight and you’ve had any potential exposures to HIV, it’s important that you get an HIV test as soon as possible.
• There is wide individual variation in HIV symptoms, so even if you know someone who recently contracted HIV and had different symptoms than yours, don’t assume that you don’t have HIV.

Many other diseases also cause unexplained weight loss. Cancer is notorious for causing loss of weight, and many types of cancer produce this symptom. Hormonal problems (such as a disorder of the thyroid gland), mood disorders (such as depression), and gastrointestinal disorders (such as coeliac disease) are also among the causes of unexplained weight loss. Any weight loss that you didn’t expect should be thoroughly investigated.

If you find yourself losing weight and you have had any potential exposures to HIV, then it’s very important that you get an HIV test as soon as possible. This is true even if you don’t notice any other HIV symptoms (such as fever or rash). The nature and severity of the symptoms of acute HIV infection varies dramatically between people, so even if you know someone who had acute HIV symptoms and yours are different, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have HIV. You can go to an STD clinic to discuss your symptoms and get a confidential HIV test.

Sources:

Mayo Clinic. “STD symptoms: Common STDs and their symptoms.” Mayo Clinic. Published 18 Mar 2015. Accessed 20 Jul 2016. http://www.mayoclinic.org/std-symptoms/art-20047081

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Screening Recommendations Referenced in Treatment Guidelines and Original Recommendation Sources.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published 04 Jun 2015. Accessed 20 Jul 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/screening-recommendations.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “HIV/AIDS.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published 05 Jul 2016. Accessed 27 Jul 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “HIV Basics – Testing.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published 12 Jul 2016. Accessed 20 Jul 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/testing.html

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP).” AIDS.gov. Published 21 Sep 2015. Accessed 20 Jul 2016. https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/prevention/reduce-your-risk/post-exposure-prophylaxis/

References

• HIV weight loss @ Wikipedia